Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

After the Lions left, Wulf pulled himself out from his golem, then deactivated [Arm of the Alchemist] and let the golem return to its usual form. He opened his storage pendant behind it, then gave it a push, and it fell back into the void space. He sealed it up, holding the golem in place, then pulled the pendant back around his neck.

When he left the changeroom, he found Vae Kella waiting outside, holding a leather bag in front of her. She stretched out her arm and said, "Your winnings, Hrothen."

Wulf took the pouch and peered inside. It was mostly silver coins, but there were a few gold coins sitting on top. Each coin was marked with the impression of a crown.

"This is my cut of the…winnings?" Wulf asked.

"Precisely."

"From bets?"

"It works the same way here as it does in Istalis."

Wulf nodded. "You know how it works in Istalis?" he asked. She didn't sound like she was from any of the Istalis Confederacy's member nations.

"You aren't the first transfer we've had," she replied. "Though, you are the…best performing." She gave him a wink.

Wulf heaved a sigh, then looked down at his coins. "You have a few more fights to attend to, don't you?"

"I can spare a moment to congratulate the victors." She turned away, but looked back with a smile, and almost a flirty smirk.

"You've known me for like…ten seconds," Wulf muttered, shaking his head.

As Vae Kella was walking away, footsteps thudded down the hallway from the other direction. Irmond and Kalee rushed to meet him (Seith had been tasked with watching over Athelas for tonight).

"Popular guy," Irmond said.

"He just won his first fight," Kalee replied. "Of course Vae Kella would come deliver his winnings."

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Irmond teased.

"Listen, elf, I can still kick you—"

"Guys," Wulf said, stepping between them. "By the Field, you'd think I'm dealing with Seith and Irmond tonight, with the bickering."

"Sorry," Kalee muttered.

"Come on," Wulf said. "Let's get back to the dorms, then I'll swap out Seith on prince-watching duty before bed."

As they walked back through the hallways of the Academy, navigating through the underground tunnels. Halfway back to the west wing of the dorms, Kalee tapped Wulf's shoulder. She was standing back, a little awkwardly, and immediately folded her hands behind her.

"Is something wrong?" Wulf whispered. Irmond kept on walking ahead, either oblivious or giving them room.

"Wulf," Kalee began, "uh…alright, on this upcoming Seventhday, I'm supposed to meet my family for dinner. Would you be willing to, uh, join me?" She held up a finger. "It's not like that, I promise. I just…I don't know if I can do this for long, you know, with my whole…family past. I might need some help."

"I understand," Wulf said. "I'd be more than happy to help."

~ ~ ~

"So you're going on a date!" Irmond exclaimed. "I was wondering when you two would like, stop just dancing around each other and try something."

Wulf rubbed his forehead. "Oh, not you too…Seith was already hounding me about this."

"My lips are sealed. If you ask it, of course!"

It was Seventhday. He'd spent all morning experimenting with potions, building up his supply and stock with a bunch of Middle-Silver potions, while he waited for his grass to improve in strength. Now, he and Irmond stood in their dorm an hour after lunch, preparing. It was awfully early, but according to Kalee, the apartment was across the city, and it would take a little while to get there, even if they chartered an Academy carriage.

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He'd gotten to thirty percent advancement progress over the past few weeks, between transmutations and general potion-making. Decent progress, but it was slowing down. He needed to start working with more powerful potions, or he wasn't going to keep up the same rate of advancement as his peers.

Of course, being so early in the semester, no one else was really advancing, either. The Artificers were improving with their crafting, but the Rangers, Mages, and regular Pilots, being combat Classes, had nothing to fight. The tournaments helped, sure, as did a decent win in combat training. But there was nothing like a dungeon for arcane improvement. That wouldn't come until much later.

But now, it wasn't time to think about the potions. He had to help out a friend. "Look, Irmond, do you have the nice shirt or not? I could go in my Academy uniform, but I don't think it'd fit the occasion very well."

"Yes, of course!" Irmond said. He pulled open a drawer beneath his bed and tugged out a spare shirt. It was the same embroidered doublet that Irmond had leant him last year. "Though, it's not exactly fancy."

"I…right," Wulf crossed his arms. "I guess you said it was average."

"You agreed that it was."

"Yeah, but it works, doesn't it?" Wulf held his arms out.

"You've kinda gotten…bulkier. More muscles. Not sure if it'll fit for much longer, at this rate."

Wulf laughed softly. "I don't plan on…bulking up much more. This is just the result of training."

"Ah, well, I wouldn't know. It's not like us elves can put on muscle very well."

"Irmond, can I have the shirt or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just want your"—he dropped his voice to a whisper—"first date"—back to a normal volume—"to go well."

"It's not—" Wulf cut himself off when he realized how young and squeaky his voice sounded in the protest. He cleared his throat. "By the Field."

Irmond tossed the shirt across the room. "There you go. You've got ten minutes before Kalee was expecting you out front."

"How do you even know that?"

Irmond grinned. "She told me to keep you on schedule and make sure you didn't, like, forget about it, being engrossed in your potions and whatnot. She's very serious about letting you come."

As far as Wulf knew, none of the others knew about Kalee's history (or future) with her family. And he wasn't about to explain it without her permission. But he fully understood why she would want a second person around.

"Ah, so you're the responsible one now," Wulf said lightheartedly, trying to ignore the growing nerves in his stomach.

"In these matters, yeah. Grandpa tends to get lost in his potions, especially on Seventhday."

"You make it sound like I'm a reema addict. And hey, I thought I was the big brother."

"It shifts depending on my mood," Irmond spread his arms. "What can I do?" He lowered his arms and stepped forward. "But seriously, Wulf. Take it easy, and don't worry. We'll handle things back here. Have a good evening with her, alright?"

~ ~ ~

Wulf met Kalee in a hallway near the Academy's carriage platform, staring forward and leaning against the wall. Today, she'd donned a blue side-slit dress, completely off-shoulder. That was probably to spite her mother.

"Am I paying for the carriage service?" Wulf asked softly as he walked up behind her.

She spun around quickly, looking almost bewildered.

"I thought you'd've heard me coming," he said. "You usually do. Sorry."

"Just…a little preoccupied." She shook her head. "No, no, Seith leant me the Crowns to pay for the dress and the carriage ride. You don't need to cover it if you don't want to, considering you're a guest."

"Considering I'm getting a free carriage ride and a free meal, I'd feel bad if I didn't spot at least part of it." He reached into his pockets and fished around for a few coins. He was still wearing his Academy uniform pants.

"Later," Kalee said. "Apparently, there's lots of traffic around this time of day."

"Got it. I—"

He cut himself off. A chill ran down his spine, and he got the impression someone was watching him. His arcane senses had never been amazing, and he wouldn't have much as a High-Copper. Besides, none of the second years had any training yet. (There was, however, an Introduction to Arcane Senses lecture next year, which he'd already signed up for.)

But, despite his limited senses, his mind and instinct knew when something felt slightly off in the Field.

He glanced around, until he picked out an alcove. He had plenty of experience hiding in dark alcoves, and he knew exactly where to look. There were two Lions watching them.

"Ah, there they are," Wulf remarked softly. "Keeping an eye on us, too."

"You think they know that we've been watching them?" Kalee asked.

"I think we would've noticed sooner if they had been watching us," Wulf said, keeping his voice low so no one would overhear. "My guess is that they only started recently."

He couldn't clear the image from his mind, from a few nights ago when he'd bumped into Varl after his arena fight. There had been something off about Varl, that much was certain. And it hadn't been like that before. Something had changed.

But they could talk later, when they knew they were alone.

They walked down to the end of the hall, stepped out onto the raised terrace where the carriages parked, and picked one out. Kalee paid the driver, and told Wulf that if he still wanted to, he could pay her back a little bit later. Then, they boarded the carriage. She gave the driver—a Pilot in control of two golem-horses—the address, and they set off.